Clark Airport reports record-breaking 2.5 million arrivals this year

Clark International Airport has hit new heights this year, with a record 2.5 million passenger arrivals already recorded this year

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Jaime Melo, president of Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), told the media in an interview yesterday (Wednesday, December 19) that a total of 2,500,052 passengers had been confirmed as of Monday evening.

“The highest record, so far, in the history of CIAC, which means more revenues for the government and more flights to come,” he said.

He added that by the time the year comes to an end, CIAC is expected to have received 2,611,362 passengers.

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“What was once relegated as just a dream for CRK [Clark Airport] is now working in full throttle. Since President Rodrigo Duterte called for the greater utilisation of Clark airport in 2016, CIAC was able to increase flights and passenger volume and profitability has also improved commensurately, a huge improvement from three to five years ago with more airlines signifying to mount flights,” he added.

The average daily passenger volume at the airport is 8,000, served by a total of 656 weekly flights, 202 of which are international flights while the remaining 454 are domestic flights.

Further, Melo said this year, Clark tallied a total of 242,840 passengers from May 1 to 31 ― the highest monthly total passengers recorded. The biggest number of travellers served in just one day was May 26 with 8,662 passengers.

Clark expansion plans

“The dream has further come to reality now that a new terminal building will be operational by 2020 and able to accommodate an additional eight million passengers per annum,” Melo said.

By the end of the year 2022, CIAC’s target is to have 4,457,046 passengers flying via Clark.

International destinations from Clark include Doha and Dubai in the Middle East, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei and Singapore, while negotiations are ongoing for airlines to mount Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur flights, among others.